The present invention relates to a spool consisting of a substantially cylindrical central member and radially projecting end flanges connected with the central member.
Spools of this kind have a wide field of application for the winding and storing of seal strip, wire, cord and ribbon of different kinds and for other different purposes. Small spools are usually manufactured from paper or plastic material and have simple and inexpensive, disposable construction, while larger spools have to be of a more rigid and thereby expensive construction. For this reason it is desirable that the larger spools be re-usable which requires that the spools are of a so called knock down construction so that they occupy as little space as possible during storing and transportation. In order to comply with this requirement spools of more or less complicated construction have been developed . A previously known spool comprises a central member consisting of two sections which are releasably connected with each other in an axial plane and end flanges which are releasably connectable with the central member at the end portions thereof in a position in which they enclose and thereby maintain the sections of the central member in an assembled position. A spool of this kind can be disassembled after use and can be stored and transported in a space saving position until it is assembled to be used again for the winding of the desired products.
A drawback of the previously known spools of the knock down type is that the arrangements of the spools used for releasably retaining the end flanges in the position in which they enclose and maintain the sections of the central member in an assembled position are complicated and expensive to manufacture and also restrict the type of constructional material for the spools to materials of high strength and also require a manufacturing including small dimensional variations.